Show Your 1851-61 Era Cancellations And Postal Markings

Love that Plainfield, MS - a tiny 1859-dated CDS.

very cool item.

let me trow some more out there:




Folded letter dated 26 april 1856, Greensboro, with a green cds Greensborough on a 11A




east Saganaw, Michigan on cover , stamp #26, diamond pattern killer, simpson page 141, #162, R3


and this next one is a question mark for me, Middletown NY fancy shield cancellation on a # 26, but I cannot find it in my books or online, I am hoping someone can help me with this one:

some loose ones:

left to right:

1. Conshohocken Pennsylvania shield in circel, Skinner PS FC 49 and Simpson page 149, number 290, R 7

2. 3 circles with bars killer form Trumansburgh NY, simpson page 147, number 263 R6

3. Great Works maine cancellation large CDS

4. Blue CDS, Burlington VT with wave line ornament

5. sunray's killer from La Salle Illinios, simpson page 131, no 58, R6


6 Pizza slice killer from:
2 options:

a. skinner GE-C 197 Topman Maine
b. simpson page 143, number 195 from New Ipswich, New Hampshire

I picked up this attractive transatlantic cover at the GASS over the weekend . . . What do you think of this write-up? Correct? Complete?

1856 Transatlantic Letter: Indianapolis, Indiana to Tägerwilen, Switzerland.
Buff cover with red "Bank of the Capitol, Indianapolis" oval handstamp, rimless INDIANAPOLIS, IND. JUN 3 CDS, and circled PAID 30 rating. Entered the mails via NEW YORK BR. PKT. PAID 7 JUN 11 exchange office marking, showing 7¢ credited to the U.K. for ocean postage. Carried on Cunard Line Africa, departing New York 11 June and arriving Liverpool 23 June.

Red AACHEN FRANCO 24/6 framed transit and matching "Franco Preuss: resp Vereinsl: Ausg: Gr." handstamp indicate the letter was prepaid only to the Prussian border. Originally rated in blue manuscript (erased) and re-rated in magenta "10" kreuzer due for Swiss internal postage. Backstamped SCHAFFHAUSEN 25/6 and TÄGERWILEN 27/6 1856 arrival.

Rate accounting: 30¢ U.S.–U.K. treaty rate prepaid (5¢ U.S. inland, 7¢ credited to Britain for sea postage, 18¢ for foreign transit including 9¢ credit to Prussia to the Swiss border). Switzerland assessed 10 kreuzer due on arrival for internal carriage.

Not sure what you mean here as the cover clearly "entered the mails" at Indianapolis.

Also, what ship did it sail on?

No time to do a deep dive, but at a high level, its clearly a 30c pre-paid letter (in cash) from Indianapolis to Switzerland via Prussian closed mail.

Its a very nice cover, although it does appear to be missing much of the back flap.
That said, it looks like you probably got all of the critical markings covered....
Sometimes back flaps get removed and you lose markings - but this probably has all one needs to create the full story.

Thanks John and TX. The "entered the mails via NEW YORK" wording was an editing mistake. I believe it traveled on Cunard Africa. It has a complete backflap that was tucked. . .There are no markings on it other than a tiny bit of the SCHAFFHAUSEN circle.

@Dutch - I love those cancels! I especially love the shield.

Here is another cover I picked up recently. I am trying to understand how it could be "due 5?" It was a "2-page" lettersheet. I did not weigh it, but assuming it was overweight, would the correct rate not have been 6¢, and therefore "due 3?" Was a penalty assessed - or something else?

Philazilla,
Your cover was mailed between June 30, 1851 and March 30, 1855, when the rates were 3 cents prepaid and 5 cents collect (per half ounce). This "3-paid/5-collect" period was an incremental effort to encourage prepayment, which became mandatory April 1, 1855. The two most common types of this desirable combination use are (1) overweight covers like yours and (2) forwarded covers since there was no free forwarding yet.

Add:
Here is a single-weight letter from the same rate period, which was forwarded and advertised, for a total of 6 cents due:

On the subject of paid+unpaid usages, I posted one earlier in this thread - second cover in this post:

https://goscf.com/t/89572#830660

NYC to Beaver, PA was prepaid by the three 1c stamps (lovingly separated with large margins for future collectors :-), then it was forwarded, unpaid (5c) to Toledo - see the red 5.

In that post I was focusing more on inverted slugs in CDS's.

Thank you John and TX!

great stuff, thank you you all for sharing and posting, love this topic

her is an interesting set:

Costars single, double and fat rat covers and a costar's cover with no rat

i also have in transit a glass bottle and a revenue stamp from costars company

The rat covers are very neat.
My friend Wilson Hulme had a few rat covers - Siegel sale 964 lots 295-298. I didn't check some may be yours.

. . .maybe a stretch for the topic, but thought this one fits better here than its own thread.

This is a super interesting cover, not necessarily because of the postal markings, but because of the stamps. . .my write-up:

1851 #10A–#10 Pair and #11A Combination

Red NEW ORLEANS La. DEC 15 (1851) CDS on buff cover to Painesville, Lake County, Ohio. Franked with a Dull Red single and an Orange Brown pair, all cancelled by black 7-bar closed grids. The single is Type II (#11A), position 42R1L, with recut #11 (single line recut in ULT). The pair is a Type II / Type I combination from positions 63–64R1i: 63R1i (#10A) with recuts #4 (inner line left) and #11 (ULT), and 64R1i (#10), a double transfer position.

I am certain on the plating and that this is the combo I think it is (the color on the 11A is tentative though). . .I imagine this "double combo" is super scarce.

As a point of interest, there is a notation on the back saying that the cover was bought in a 1955 Siegel sale. . .It was sale #177, lot 101 - a group lot of 6 covers that went for $17.50.

The cancels are where I have questions:

1. The stamps are not tied to the cover by the cancel. . .I think the chance the cover is phony is small, but possible. I plated the 11A, confirming the combo - previous owners did not seem to think that this combo was particularly notable. And the stamps are tied to each other. Is this cover genuine?

2. The cancels are all "half" 7-bar closed grids. That looks odd to me. Wonder if the handstamp was half-inked or if maybe another letter got in the way?



Separately, Dutch - I love those rat covers - especially the odd assortment of products and services offered by "Costar's"

TX, none are Wilson Hulme's, witch is interesting as they are quite rare (double rat only 2 know according to Siegel

Philazilla, I agree, I would not be comfortable buying my medication from a ratpoison producer.........

and your cover, you could lift your stamps to see if anything is underneath, but my bet is it is a legit cover and an other letter got on top of it, and thus in the way for the cancells